For designers and developers, CSS has long been a powerful part of the web design process, but with the emergence of CSS3 and the growth of both the spec and the number of browsers that support it, amazing options are being opened up for designers.

It’s now possible to do all sorts of cool things just using CSS — even animation. Although not all of the effects work across browsers (even browsers that have CSS3 support) and some things are more for show and tell than actual use, there is seemingly no shortage of cool things you can do, just with the stylesheet.

Here are seven of our favorite CSS3 techniques that have a real-world use and that you can start experimenting with right now.